


Stranded

by Peppsta



Series: Lets hurt Tobirama [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, But he changes, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hashirama is a good bro, Hurt Tobirama, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Hashirama, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug, Slow Burn, Tobirama Whump, i still dont know if people still say whump, just wait, like ripping flesh out of humans violent, listen, look this rushed, lots of uchihas basically, madara is an asshole in this ok, mermaid au, no beta we die like men, this is very violent so watch out, welcome to my
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:54:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24631885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peppsta/pseuds/Peppsta
Summary: Trying to get some food for his family, Tobirama made a fatal mistake, leaving him in the hands of not so a not so friendly pirate crew
Relationships: Senju Hashirama & Senju Tobirama, Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Series: Lets hurt Tobirama [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773670
Comments: 30
Kudos: 163





	1. Rising

**Author's Note:**

> heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! Welcome to another round of: LETS HURT TOBIRAMA. welcome back, welcome back, I know this is not the first time you are here, but I still hope you like it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! Welcome back to another round of "Lets hurt Tobirama! Welcome back, welcome back! I know this is not the first time yall have been here but I still hope youll like it

He had told Hashirama thousands of times…

‘Don’t get too close to their boats.’ 

He had warned him about the dangers of those two-legged creatures. 

‘Don’t lounge around near the shore.’

Deep under the water, no one dared getting close to the surface, if not absolutely necessary. Why should they? Everything they needed was beneath the border, which separated them from the world of the humans. 

‘Don’t rest on the rocks too long. They’ll see you eventually.’

Since they were born, everyone was taught about the dangers of the surface. Especially since the humans started destroying their homes, taking their food from them. 

‘You were talking to them?! Hashirama! They could have taken you! Did you forget what they did to our family? We can’t lose you! We would be lost without your lead!’

It had started with disappearing prey. Since the beginning of time, the water had been shared between the two groups of races. The humans came with their nets and boats and the waterfolk caught the fish with their claws or jaws. 

‘This is the third squad that came back from hunting empty handed, brother. Something is wrong. They want too much! They steal our food! We will die if they keep on emptying the seas like this!’

It would be exaggerated to say the humans knew about their existence, but they were definitely rumours, tales and theories. Tales of pirates, sailors and people living at the shore, whispering to each other about smooth and deadly creatures, trying to sink their ships, steal their treasures and children. Stupid humans. Back in the old day, they would have never sunken a ship simply for a treasure or for the joy of killing. Occasionally, one of their friends got tangled up in the fishing nets and they had no chance to help them and release them back into the cool, black sea but to sink the humans complete ship, including crew, treasures, furniture, maps, books and, as sad at it was, even families.

But things changed. Stealing their foot, kidnapping merfolk just to show them off for their own amusement or sell them to the highest bidder was not rare anymore. In return the merfolk did exactly what the stories and tales told about them. They sank their ships, stole their treasures, sang to the sailors, just to grab them and pull them underwater. If they stole their food, they’ll just find new things to eat. Sadly, humans weren’t as tasty as fish.

Their new way to agitate the merfolk was to poison their waters with some sort of substance the humans apparently called ‘oil’. The merfolk just called it the black death. Usually it’s pitch-black, but it can change colours, sometimes into brown and sometimes it glimmers in every colour there is, but the second someone touches it, their demise was safe. It leaves no way to breathe, it sticks on skin, between gills, it makes swimming harder. Some even got it on their food and died a few days later.

‘No matter what they do, the only thing they are capable of, is killing!’

The once indifferent relationship between the two groups slowly changed into bitter, resentful, and furious hatred. On both sides. There was a downright war going on between the two races.

Still, there were a few like his brother. Hashirama claimed to see the good in everyone, even the humans, so he couldn’t be stopped by his younger brother’s warnings or the tales of terror surviving merpeople told. Even when his own little brothers had been killed by the humans, he could still forgive. 

This was the difference between Hashirama and his remaining brother Tobirama. The younger merman could understand that not every human was bad but the fact that the killer of his innocent brothers was still running around freely, kept him from forgiving. They didn’t see their faces when it happened, so it could be any human they’d talk to; and that losing another brother, his only brother, was not a risk, Tobirama was going to take.

Still there he was. They had a shortage of food for the last few days now, so Tobirama had been on his way to find some food for his family for a while now. The young merman had checked the usual hiding spots for prey, swam surprisingly close to the shore, to the atoll, where lots of fish used to mingle and mind their busyness, thinking themselves in safety. The atoll had changed over the years, though. It lost it colours, it seemed like everything was dying. Fewer fish could be found there, so the atoll could be scratched from their hunting grounds. 

The influence of the humans had also changed the behaviour of the merfolk towards each other. A few years ago, they had hunted happily next to each other, sharing their prey, and eating together on top of a rock, bathing in the burning sun. Now it was a battle to survive. Another merperson would mean danger to your own survival, so many of them became egoistical. Fighting merfolk over food was something, which could be watched daily. 

Not finding anything but a few way too small fish at the atoll, Tobirama had sighed, turned around and swam aimlessly through the soft, cool water and began to glide down, deeper into the dark void. He had his translucent fins at his elbows and tail fanned out and searching the water for any sign of vibrations or sounds coming from anything eatable.  
He was worried. Human sightings were becoming more and more recent, which meant danger. Closing his eyes he felt the current of the water and decided to let it carry him. Without any effort he was moving through the water. Tobirama noted how much bolder the humans had become. They didn’t fear the merpeople as much as they used to, which was worrying the young merman. Turning around, so he could lie on his back, Tobirama looked at the shimmering sun above him. Due to his sensitive hearing and fins, he could make out the sound of boats in the distance. Closing his eyes again, he hoped they would leave his kind alone.

Suddenly he stopped. He felt a gigantic amount of vibrations coming from his right, slightly above him. This was no boat. It was fish. An enormous amount of fish and he could clearly hear them screeching. Tobirama followed the sound, carefully trying to stay hidden behind some rocks, which were overflowing with dead corals. They felt rough on his scaly hand, but he had a steady grip on them, ready to bounce into any direction he needed to. This could still be a trap after all, he knew how much money some humans would pay for a merperson.

Then he saw it. 

Thousands of fish trapped in a single net. The trap was overflowing with all kinds of delicious fishes, trying to save their lives and escape. Tobirama knew, once the fish were trapped in the net there was no way out for them, they were doomed. After making sure there was no other merperson or predator around, Tobirama decided to slowly approach. The moment the fish saw him, they struggled even worse, trying to swim away from him, swaying the net slightly. Licking his sharp fangs, which were almost to big for his mouth, he hovered in front of his prey, his face getting split in two by his grean. The scent of blood was overflowing Tobirama’s senses giving him the rush of adrenaline, he’d normally feel when catching his food, feeling his prey struggle in mouth, spiked by his teeth. With his right hand, he held the net tightly, so it won’t sway around too much, with his left hand, he unravelled a sharp coral, which he often used as a weapon, from some seaweed, which had tied it to his right arm. Slowly he started to saw through the fibre, carefully not to grip the steel like net too tightly, trying to prevent from cutting himself on its razor-sharp edges. Finally, one fibre snapped, giving him enough room to stick his hand into the crowd of fish, easily grabbing one. Quickly he pulled his hand back out and beat the fish against a rock, knocking it unconscious, or killing it instantly. Tobirama didn’t really care, because one fish won’t feed his family. 

He repeated the process for a while. A few minutes in, he had decided to make the hole bigger, because the fish had gained enough room to try and swim away from Tobirama, and it had worked. He couldn’t reach them anymore. Tobirama sighed and pinched his nose. It was dangerous and stupid and everything he had warned his brother not to do but looking at the pitiful heap of fish on the sandy ground, he knew he needed more fish. This wouldn’t last a day with his brother’s appetite and his fiancé Mito now eating for two. 

Quickly he cut a few more fibres, trying to let as few fish as possible escape. After opening the hole to a satisfying width, he pulled himself up and stuck his torso into the rest of the net. His long, white, and grey tail with red stripes, was still hanging outside the trap. With a few strokes of his weapon, more and more fish silently sunk, until Tobirama grabbed them and threw them out of the net, onto his heap. 

After nearly emptying the whole net, Tobirama was satisfied with the amount of fish he had collected. It would last for a while and he can’t wait to have another big bite into the soft flesh of those fish on the ground. He started tying the coral back to his arm, he turned around in the net, ready to exit through the hole again.

Suddenly he stopped. He felt vibrations coming from above and the sun which had just warmed the water around him become colder and colder with every passing second. It almost seemed like the sun had disappeared. A giant shadow hovered a few hundred meters above him. 

Squinting his eyes, he tried to make out the shape of the monster above him. It seemed to be swimming… but not like a whale, which had been his first guess. Tobirama quickly noted how every other animal which had accompanied him earlier suddenly was gone. They were all afraid of the giant above him. A boat.

The line, which the net was connected to started to shake, which made Tobirama decided to quickly leave the deadly trap, before anything could happen.

It was like some god or higher being had heard him, because in this exact moment, the net started to move upwards, in a speed, which wasn’t comprehendible for Tobirama. Through the shock and the force, which pressed the young merman at the bottom of the net, he lost his coral, which he quickly lost out of his sight. 

Desperately trying to free himself from the net, finding the whole in which he had entered, he cut himself severely on the sharp fibres of the net. Blood war running down from the webbing between his finger, from trying frantically to find a way out and the water around started to turn red. 

He felt sick. He wasn’t used to the pressure changing as quickly as it did right now. No merperson could ever swim this fast! His ears felt like they were about to explode. Tightly gripping his ringing ears, clutching the fins which covered his ears, he slapped his hand onto them, crumbling the sensitive tissue in his hands. He curled himself up, burying himself under his long tail, trying to hide from the world and what was about to come. The second before was forcefully exiting his home, everything he had ever known, he let out a long deafening screech, shouting for his elder brother.


	2. Dry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back and thank you for your nice comments! It's always easier to write with motivation from you guys :D

Tobirama couldn’t exactly remember the moment when they had dragged him out of the water. The only thing he could recall was the ringing of his ears, the hot sun burning on his pale skin and lots of hushed and breathless voices and sounds. It seemed like they couldn’t comprehend the being which was curled up and tapped in their net. They didn’t look surprised per se. It was more like a collective awe, trying to figure out how their plan had actually worked.

Tobirama’s eyes adjusted painfully slow to the dry and hot air overwater, he could only see dark silhouettes hurrying on the boat, like a swarm of fish, trying to stay together and work as a group. 

Great, he was captured but the worst part about this was that it was a crew of idiots, who had managed to catch him. Not some sort of genius group but a pile of dumbasses.  
Tobirama could only now start to think straight again. The ringing in his ears slowly turned down and most of his senses had returned to him. Carefully he worked on freeing his arms, which were both tangled up in the net, and trying to find the hole to escape again. Unravelling himself without the use of his arms seemed like a sheer impossibility to the young merman. 

The humans seemed to notice his plan and decided now would be a good time to get the net onto the boat. It had still been dangling over the depth of the sea. Both parties knew, once the net was on the boat, there was no escape for the merperson. 

Trying to scare the humans into leaving the net alone, Tobirama hissed at them, fletching his giant fangs at them. Most of the time, the young merman was able to scare away humans like that, but it didn’t seem like the crew was stopping from moving the net. Well, usually Tobirama wasn’t trapped when he needed to scare humans. 

With a loud ‘thumb’ Tobirama landed on a dry, harsh, and scratching surface. It was hot and uncomfortable on his scales and sensitive skin. The humans immediately took a few steps back, bringing distance between the whipping tail of the merman and their own bodies. Freeing himself without foreign help was impossible, Tobirama noted in his head, but still he needed to try and keep them at bay, away from him. Whenever one of them tried to get closer, Tobirama fanned his fins out threateningly, hissed, showing his teeth in the process. A few of them always tried to grap his tail. They weren’t completely stupid after all. Apparently, they knew how painful a hit with a merperson’s tail could be, so immobilizing it first would seem like a good strategy. 

Tobirama curled up into himself, only to try and push his body as high as possible, threatening the humans to leave him alone. One of them suddenly had a rope in his hands, throwing one end over Tobirama’s head. He followed the rope with his eyes, and he saw another man gracefully catching it. The other humans followed, copying the men’s behaviour and shortly after, Tobirama found himself pressed tightly against the rough material of the ships floor, held down by the ropes. His head fins pressed tightly to his head, he hissed at them again, knowing it was useless. His blood started to pool beneath him, after running down his body, which was covered in cuts. In his state of desperation, he had tried to bite the net, hoping the fibre would give away, leaving him space to breathe, move and attack if necessary. He underestimated the strength of the metal fibres and now his mouth was leaking blood too. 

“I still can’t believe it.” One person said. It was easy for Tobirama to understand and learn their language, after having found books and scrolls, which had been washed up to the shore. Knowing their language was the only advantage he had over them right now. 

All of the sudden, there was a heavy weight on his tail. Some puny human dared to sit on it, holding it down. Damn, he should have been more careful and watchful in a situation like that. Being distracted would only lead to suffering. Desperately trying to shove him off, he strained against the net and the ropes holding him down, making him bleed once again. The man slightly swayed but his grip was too tight. 

Tobirama sighed and softly sunk his head down onto the uncomfortable surface. He knew when he was beaten, and he stood no chance against them anymore. Tiredness and soreness started to affect his muscles and he could feel his arms and torso shake slightly. The struggling and straining had gone on for a while now and he was exhausted. He just hoped they would end him quickly. 

The humans around him seemed to relax too, after seeing the merman ceasing in his struggle against them. Some of them made some sort of cross with their hands and they looked up at the sky whispering quietly. They were praying or thanking someone. So, they had a religion, just like them. Maybe they even prayed to the same gods? Trying to flex his finger he winced when feeling the webbing between his finger being slightly ripped. He noticed how at the bottom of his tail, he had teared up his tailfin horribly, leaving holes and ruptures in the delicate texture, making it bleed badly. Swallowing down a bale of sickness he had to rip his eyes away from his abused body.

Tobirama decided to watch the human who seemed to be in charge of his capture and this boat. The first thing he noticed was, how much hair he had on his head. Similar in length to his brother’s, just where Hashirama’s hair was soft and straight, sometimes curling in the water, his opponent’s hair was spiky and dry from the harsh wind of the sea, leaving it crusted and unruly. He had tied his black hair back with some sort of clothed ribbon, leaving his face only to be covered by some bangs, which were just as spiky and dry as the rest of the hair. Similar to his own, the human had piercing red eyes. They only differed in the shade of red. Tobirama’s had a light red colouring, similar to the Mediterranean Red Sea Star, the human’s eyes looked more like the red coral. His whole body was covered in some black cloth, which only left his face naked. His hands and the end of his legs were also covered by some sort of animal skin. Disgusting. When looking around, Tobirama noticed that every human around him seemed to be dressed like that. The human's face was scrunched up in, what Tobirama could only assume was a look of concentration and annoyance.

Trying to stabilize his breathing, Tobirama focussed on the human standing behind the leader. He was a little smaller in size but had the same colour of hair and eyes. Ah, siblings. He decided that maybe this information will be useful for later. The only big difference Tobirama could see was their hair. Whereas the first human’s hair was big and unruly, the second human’s hair was just as unruly but a lot thinner, which could be easily seen when looking at the amount of hair, which both of them had tied back.

Tobirama didn’t know how long he had been lying on the ground now, burning in the sun. His thoughts drifted through time and space, leaving him with a blank face. Sometimes when he had those glassy eyes for too long a human came up to him and squatted down in front of him. He always found back to reality pretty quickly and scared those humans away with just a glance. Towards the few persistent ones, he even had to bare his teeth against.

After a while, the boat started to move and the turmoil and excitement on the ship had died down. They grew more courageous and a few even tried to talk to him. Some of them daydreamed about how much fortune he will bring them, other just wanted to know, if he could understand them. He usually rolled his eyes or hissed at them. Tobirama didn’t want anything to do with them, he just wanted to go home. 

Tobirama wondered if they were just going to let him dry out and watch him die slowly in the sun. Merpeople could easily breath overwater but if their skin dried out completely and lost all its water, their organs would fail and there was nothing they could do about it, except get back into the cold wet. He closed his eyes, trying to turn around, making it easier to deal with the sickness which rolled over him in waves. He needed water. Quickly. 

The humans seemed to notice how much more erratic and unsettled he became. The leader on board quickly whispered something to his apparent sibling, who without hesitating screamed something at the crew, Tobirama didn’t bother to listen to.

Suddenly a splash of cold water ripped him out of his trance, and he looked around. The humans were standing in a row with little silver cases, which were holding water. One after another dumped the content onto him and Tobirama quickly noticed that maybe he had been wrong with his first guess about their intelligence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like always comments, bookmarks, kudos and subscriptions would be appreciated!


	3. Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, I'm back! I'm also glad you had fun with the image of uchihas standing in a row, pouring water over Tobirama XD Have fun with this one too :D

It would be a lie if Tobirama said, he wasn’t at least a little bit thankful for the water, they were slowly pouring over him. He hated the fact, but without them he would have died in the sun… on the other hand, it was their fault that he was in this situation anyway, so they shouldn’t expect any gratitude coming from him! His skin absorbed the water and he felt the nausea fade away after a little bit of waiting. A small puddle started to form under Tobirama’s body, where he softly put, his face into, trying to relax in this extraordinary situation. After he decided that the humans won’t cut him up on the spot and sell his flesh and interior, Tobirama wondered how much they had been prepared for catching a merperson. It seemed like it hadn’t been planned at all, or just very poorly planned. Maybe they had tried to capture a merperson, but they just didn’t believe in actually catching one. Which made Tobirama even madder at himself than before.  
It had been a stupid idea to enter the net completely. It was basic knowledge that this was a common trick of sailors and pirates to capture merpeople with and Tobirama *knew* this. He knew about all of the different kind of traps, tricks and strategies humans had tried to get to merpeople and he had to fall for the most common and basic one. A net with bait inside. He could blame his stupidity on his current situation. Hungry, haven’t eaten for days, worrying about his family’s health, especially about the unborn child. It was dangerous for the mother’s and the child’s wellbeing to be malnourished even in the slightest in this critical time of child development. So, bringing them food had been Tobirama’s highest priority. He won’t risk losing another family member due to this war.

The sun slowly started to set and the air became colder and colder, with the decreasing temperature. Tobirama wondered if his brother had already noticed his absence. It was unlikely, seeing that searching for food could take a while, so, Hashirama would only start to worry in a few days. The young merman sighed; he couldn’t count on being rescued anytime soon. The chances of him getting rescued and coming home were getting slimmer and slimmer the further and longer the boat was swimming.   
Lying in the same place and position, with no chance of moving his limbs was starting to hurt. His right shoulder was in pain, due to his whole weight resting on it since the second he hit the floor. Tobirama was certain, his right side was covered in little splinters from trying to move and struggle against the net. Every movement hurt, bringing tears into his eyes. Of course, he won’t let them fall, showing weakness, surrounded by enemies was out of the question. He had to stay strong, if he gave up now, he’ll never see his home or family again. The most agonizing pain was coming from his tail though. Through struggling and fighting his tailfin had been teared up and bleed horridly.  
It took a while for injuries like that to heal for a merperson, when treated correctly. Being in a position like this, Tobirama wasn’t sure his injury would ever heal. This would mean the end to the life he had been living. He would be a cripple, not being able to swim right. Most of their strength in swimming came from their tail and tailfin. Without those functioning fully, he was a baggage to his family, just another mouth to feed.

Tobirama noticed how his eyelids started to droop every now and then. He knew he wasn’t allowed to fall asleep right now. There was no way he could defend himself while being asleep. Still, after running out of adrenaline, his body ached to submerge himself into the welcoming embrace of darkness. Tobirama really tried to fight it. He really did. Trying to turn around, just to move and keep himself awake was painful but necessary. Every time he moved the atmosphere on the ship dramatically changed. Whereas it had been relatively quiet before, a few humans even had disappeared into the stomach of the ship, now it seemed like everyone was alarmed, ready to leap into action. 

The humans knew exactly what was going on. They understood that he was desperately trying to fight his body’s needs. They saw how thin his long body was, thinner than it should be and after the stressful events of today, the only thing they needed to do, was wait. Waiting for him to succumb to his basic needs. Tobirama was losing this fight. His eyes closed slowly, the last remaining thing he was seeing, was a silhouette closing in on him, looking down at his helpless body.

Tobirama woke up a few times, but only remembering two instances. The first time he had woken up, was due to a human grabbing his tail, lifting it slowly up from the ground. He had tried to keep awake and fight but immediately his sight grew hazy and his eyes closed again. The second time, there were hands all over him. He tried to move, only to still find himself trapped in his restraining prison. Tobirama heard quick shouting and everything went dark again. 

A collective sigh could be heard, after the merman was finally pushed over the rim of the tank and its ridiculously long body splashed into the water. Waves pushed over the glass and a few of his crew members wailed when some of the cold water hit them. They had decided to leave the net wrapped around the creature. After a few of his men got hit by the tail and bit by its sharp teeth, in its desperate struggle for freedom, Madara didn’t dare to risk anything or anyone. He won’t underestimate the power and strength of a desperate animal, cornered in enemy territory. 

Madara had dealt with more of these creatures than anybody else on this ship, but the one they had caught now… it was special. He watched it slowly sink to the ground, softly hitting the sand on the bottom of the tank. Its white hair, which had been pressed against his scalp overwater, was now defying gravity in the water, sticking out in every direction it could. In all his years of hunting, Madara had never seen such a majestic being. Its body was completely white, with a few grey nuances but what was really eye-catching was the glowing red stripes which started on its face and circled its whole body down to its tailfin. Speaking of tailfin, it looked bad. There were ruptures and holes and some parts were even completely ripped, colouring the water around its body in red from the blood which just won’t stop pooling out of the creature. Even the little fins, which here located at the side of the tale had been injured in its battle against the net and its capturers. But still, they weren’t as bad as the giant fin at the end of the tail. It was hard to see next to the red stripes but the animal’s whole body was covered in cuts and bruised from the sharp net they had used. He just hoped this won’t affect its prize. Madara knew how painful and damaging those kinds of taps were but he chose them on purpose.

On his first hunt, they desperately needed money and the merperson had easily ripped their net into shreds and was about to sink his ship to the bottom of the sea. He had lost his whole crew; he had even come close to losing his little brother. After Madara had rescued himself onto a pile of wood, of the shipwreck, he had screamed his throat hoarse in search for his brother. It had been dark, so he could only see the silhouettes of his dead crewmates drifting in the water. When suddenly he had heard Izuna’s familiar voice. It had been pained and terrified. When Madara turned around he could see his brother fighting with the merperson they had just tried to capture.  
Izuna had desperately tried to hold himself onto the barrel, which had been floating in the water, but the animal was all over him, scratching, hitting, and biting him. Without thinking, Madara swam over to his brother and grabbed the backfin of that horrendous animal and tried to rip it off his brother. Now it was beating around desperately trying to hit at least something. The older man remembered the knife he had been carrying in his boot for a while now and quickly drew it out of his shoe. Without thinking he stabbed the screeching animal in its back, repeatedly, not counting how many times. It screamed and tried to get away from the brothers as quick as possible, disappearing in the dark waters. The last thing the two panting brothers saw, was the brown-white haired head with tears streaming down its face.

Blinking slowly, Madara ripped himself out of the horrible memory. His brother was safe and there was noting in this world, which could hurt him, as long as he still was by his side. He stared at the still, unconscious being in front of him. Especially not one of those animals. After Madara and Izuna had rescued themselves to the shore, they had promised each other they would have each other’s backs and those filthy animals had to pay for killing their friends and families. 

There were enough people who were ready to pay extremely high sums for one of these creatures, giving Izuna and Madara a chance to bathe in fortune and richness and have their revenge. 

A soft hand found its way onto Madara’s shoulder. 

“What are you staring at?” Izuna asked following his brother’s eyes. “Oh.” He scratched his chin. “It does look special, doesn’t it, brother?” Madara nodded and a grin spread on his face.

“It looks like we caught ourselves an albino, ladies and gentlemen.” 

There was loud cheering behind him and a few of his crewmates already took out some sort of alcoholic beverage. Tonight, was going to be a feast!


	4. Back under

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back, like always, have fun!

The tables were covered in jars of rum and ale. Out of every corner of the room, singing, laughter and shouting could be heard, some were excitingly recounting the events of today, others were just enjoying a drink with their mates. They hadn’t been this happy and relaxed for a while now, genuinely enjoying themselves.  
His crew really needed an uplifting night like this. The motivation had been low, which was understandable. They had been sailing around for weeks now, without finding anything of interest. The only thing they had been able to catch was fish, fish, and nothing but fish. Sometimes there was a crab, or a lobster caught in their net, once even a dolphin. But that was not the thing they had been looking for, they weren’t ordinary sailors after all.

After a few hours into the next day, Madara noticed the horrendous smell, which lingered in the room. They were used to bad smells, but this was another level. People had started to vomit all over the tables, the floors, and other people, nearly leading several fights. The luck was on their side, this night though. Due to their state of mind and some interference with the more sober crewmembers, no injuries could be added to the list of tonight.

Madara had also been drinking since the party had started, but he could handle his liquor, unlike his brother, who is trying to chuck down two jars of rum at the same time, spilling everything onto the table and his clothes. He sighed, already seeing himself dragging his half-unconscious brother back to his bed. He could already feel the alcohol running through his system, leaving him swaying slightly. He wasn’t drunk, the ship was just barrelling its way through a little storm, so standing was a little hard. He could see his crew facing the same problem, a few even fell over, spilling more and more alcohol onto the wooden floor. They will never be able to get the smell out of the planks, that’s for sure. 

Sinking down in his chair at the end of the table, Madara got himself another bottle of rum, humming contently, when he could see the golden liquid filling up his jar. Today had been a good day.

“Cheers!” He screamed at his crewmembers, laughing loudly, and chugging down the content of his jar. The others answered quickly with their own cheer and started drinking too. There was a moment of silence, everyone was concentrating; trying not to spill any alcohol while drinking. Still, Madara could hear some splattering. One after another slammed down their glasses and jars and exhaled audibly. Onto the next round!

The only thing Tobirama could hear was his own breathing. Into his nose, out of his gills. And repeat. In… out… repeat…

The sound of his breathing was dull, it was echoing back, quickly reaching his ears again. He noted that he was in unfamiliar, foreign territory.

It has been a while since Tobirama’s limps had felt as heavy as they do now. 

In… out… repeat…

The ground underneath Tobirama’s body felt soft. He knew this material. Cold, soft, fine texture. Sand. He was lying on sand. This was no ordinary sleeping place for him. Yes, sometimes Tobirama fell asleep in weird places, leaving his brother to search for him and drag him back home into his bed. But he would never just sleep on *sand*.

Trying to open his eyes, at first, they stuck together, making him try to rub them with the back of his hand. The second he noticed, he could not move his arms, everything rushed back. Without thinking, reacting on instincts, Tobirama started struggling, trying to free his hands from whatever prison they were trapped in. He threw his head back in anger, screamed furiously at his situation, his captors, his stupid self, just everyone, but he knew no one would hear him. He was shaking out of anger and despair. Tears of desperation were leaking into the water. They couldn’t be seen but he felt the burning wetness exit his eyes and mix with the water around him. The fibre around him seemed to bite even harsher than before, reopening his cuts and adding new ones. 

This couldn’t be happening. Not to him. He only heard stories about merpeople getting captured, taken away from home, this can’t be happening, its just a dream! A bad dream, he’ll wake up from eventually. 

But he didn’t. No matter how long he laid still in the sand, no matter how many tears left his eyes, no matter how often he closed his eyes, counted to ten, then opened them again… he was still there. Trapped in a small tank, somewhere on a ship with no escape. Tobirama was already planning to gut the first human, who will even try to touch this water, he’ll drag them down, let him scream, just for his friends to come see the merman rip him into shreds and there was nothing they could do but watch. They will kill him shortly after, but even death was better than *this*

Shaking his head mentally, Tobirama had to remember to stay calm. Despair will not gain him his freedom. The first task should be, to free himself from this net, which is easier said then done. 

Looking around in the tank, Tobirama could see they haven’t even tried to make him feel comfortable, there was nothing around here, which remembered him of home. No beautiful shell, which could be carved into a knife, no colourful corals, sharp enough to cut through everything. Just sand. Plain yellow sand probably collected from the beaches. The only way he could free himself was trying to struggle his way out of the net. Not wanting to add any more injuries to the list of the night, he decided to leave it be. There was no way he could escape with these conditions. 

The next thing to do was trying to examine his bodies for injuries. Looking down, Tobirama had to swallow back a bile of sickness, which had threatened to rise. His body had never been injured like this before. He didn’t know where to start when looking at his tailfin. It was *shredded*. He would still be able to swim, but without treatment, he would be useless. His tailfin. His beautiful tailfin, he had always been silently proud of. It had been strong, swift, and nice to look at. At least that’s what his brother always told him. He was not deaf to the comments other merpeople made about his quite uncommon and unique colouring. Ghost, Demon, Freak. These words were no strangers for Tobirama. He knew he had never been pretty, not beautiful like Mito, red, long hair, orange tail with small purple dots. Or powerful, gentle, and yet nice to look at like Hashirama, with his dark brown skin, black stripes, and subtle red accents. No other merperson looked like Tobirama and his brother always told him this was good! It gave him originality and it made him special, but he knew of the dangers, which accompanied ‘looking special’. 

Apart from his tailfin, his body was covered in cuts from his head, to the tip of his fin. These would heal with time. Well, in case somebody would free him of this net.

Suddenly there was a loud noise and it seemed like it was coming from everywhere. Trying to twist around, he needed to find the source of the sound, so he could rip them apart and stop the noise. His ears started ringing again because it was just too loud!

There was no way he could cover his ears, so he just screamed back at the noise, hoping to scare whoever was responsible for this. The dull noise stopped, and its echoes slowly faded away. Thinking clearly again, Tobirama could see the reflection of two humans standing at the other side of the tank. Both were laughing, holding little cups in their hands. Something was wrong with them, they were swaying, nearly toppling over. Have they been drugged? By whom?

Tobirama twisted around carefully, trying not startle his wounds. Now he even knew where the noise was coming from. Those two buffoons thought it would be funny to knock on the glass of his tank. They were laughing again, as Tobirama curled up into himself, after they knocked at the glass again, making his ears ring in pain. 

Enough was enough. He was not going to sit there all helpless, waiting for his doom. Tobirama manoeuvred and dragged his body to the closest wall, pressing himself against it. Slowly he started to swim upwards, until his face breached the water. He knew how to make men do his bidding. They were so simple minded, only wanting two things in particular. Power and sexual intercourse. Tobirama is willing to give them none of that, but that doesn’t mean, they’ll have to know that.

The two men quickly joined him on his side of the tank, looking up at him. Their breath was horrible in Tobirama’s sensitive nose. It was better to get this over quickly with. Blinking a few times, Tobirama willed a single tear out of his left eye. He made himself smaller than he actually was, and he even mimicked a sob. 

“Awwww, would you look at that! The little mermaid is crying!” One shouted, trying to reach up and touch his face. Perfect. Everything was going according to plan. The other one was apparently smarter, tugging at his friend’s arm. 

“Don’t touch it! You know how dangerous they can be!” Oh, an extremely smart one. Tobirama had to hide a grin stretching over his face, he needed to look innocent and helpless after all. Whimpering, he slowly sank down into the tank again, his hands running down the glass in front of him, until he stopped when his face was a little under the man’s head. He knew how to stop his enemy’s hearts, just through their fear of him and he can certainly make them lose their hearts by pitying him.

“Look at it! It’s just some helpless fish. What could it possibly do to hurt us?” Again, he wanted to laugh out loudly. As if the other human could read his mind he yelled: “Did you already forget this day? What had happened? We needed the whole crew to get that thing calmed down and into the tank.” 

Tobirama shuddered again, curling up on himself in another corner of his tank. It was painful and he let the humans see that. He needed their pity or their hunger for power right now. “No, don’t leave us, little mermaid!” The human shouted, putting his hands back against the tank again. Little? Did he see how much bigger Tobirama was? At least twice his size!  
To emphasize how ‘adorable and helpless’ he was, Tobirama wailed loudly in pain, trying to scratch his way out of the tank. A useless but meaningful gesture. After hearing the man’ words, he slowly crawled over the soft sand, in their direction. He never really looked at the human’s eyes directly, wanting to look submissive. 

The human squatted down, so they were at eyelevel. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of this bad net. You know we didn’t really want to hurt you this badly. This will affect the price, people will want to pay for you, after all.” The human started to talk, while he got himself a latter, so he could easily climb to the top of the tank. Quickly checking the human’s gear, Tobirama noticed a little knife, sticking in a sheath. He had to watch out for this one.

The human arrived at the top and Tobirama dragged himself up slowly, making sure to add some whimpering and trembling. Carefully he put his head out of the water, looking up at the human.

“Damn, look at those eyes and lips. I think we can have a little fun later, can we not?” Disgusting. How barbaric can a human be? He couldn’t keep contemplating on this topic, because the man stuck his hand slowly into the water. Pulling it back out again, he placed it on Tobirama’s cheek. The hand was colossal, bigger than any merperson’s hand.  
Tobirama trembled under it, not sure if this was still him acting or not. He didn’t want to admit it, but his life was truly lying in this human’s colossal, sweaty, and smelling hands. With the other hand, the human grabbed his little knife and pulled it out, bringing it closer to Tobirama’s face. Yes, everything was going according to plan.

He brought the knife closer to his neck and Tobirama could feel his pulse speeding up. Slowly the man cut down the net. He started on his face, pulling the fibres away rather gently, freeing his face from its iron prison. One stroke after another, the net fell to the ground, freeing Tobirama entirely. His fins flared out and Tobirama raised his hands to put them on the edge of the tank. The human quickly put his knife away.

“See, you are free now.” He put his hand back on Tobirama’s cheeks. “So how about we play now?” His eyes had a mysterious sparkle to them, and Tobirama could see his disgusting plans inside his eyes. Those were not the ideas Tobirama had for himself, but he still needed to play his part. Not for much longer though. 

“Do you really think this is a good idea? If Madara finds out…” The other man, who had watched everything silently spoke up again. He was certainly smarter than the rest of this bunch, Tobirama decided. But now, for the final act.

He purred, leaning into the big hands of the man in front of him. He lifted his scarred hands up, putting them on the human’s cheeks, copying his move. He had dragged water all over the floor, leaving the human, who had been their silent observer, drenched. He seemed to have enough and leave the room, stomping with his legs. 

The man’s cheeks in his hands felt different, apparently, they could also grow hair on their face. Interesting. Back to the grand finale! 

Sighing, imitating the puppy-dog eyes he had learned to manipulate his older brother, he looked back up at the man. Suddenly his mouth was fletched into a grin, his giant, razor-sharp teeth, sticking out.

“Yes. Let’s play!” Tobirama could still see the man’s shocked face, just seconds before he dragged him underwater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked it and if you want to, you can leave a comment, bookmark, kudo or a subscription :^) Oh and if you have the feeling a forgot to tag something, pls tell me :D
> 
> I also have a [tumblr](tumblr.com/blog/peppsta)


	5. Blackmail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall got an angry Hashirama coming your way, so watch out!

Humans were very weak when left in water, without something to hold on to.

The man had been flailing, his hand desperately trying to grasp something, pulling at Tobirama’s hair, hoping he would let him go. Tobirama had already ripped some pieces of flesh out of the human’s left shoulder, and upper arm, right forearm and out of the back of his neck. The merman let the man go again, leaving him to struggle to try and get his head overwater. As Tobirama swam in circles around the man’s leg, he could hear spluttering and coughing coming from above. Paddling to the rim of the tank he screamed for help, just to be grabbed by the leg and pulled underwater again. 

From the outside it may look like Tobirama was enjoying torturing and playing with the human, but he needed a hostage so he could have something to bargain with. He’ll just have to keep going, until the human leader arrived.

The man hit the sandy ground again, the water around him coloured in red. He was screaming at him in anger and fear. Big bubbles leaving his mouth while he did so. 

“It is funny, how quickly the tables can turn.” Tobirama kept circling around the man, eyeing him from the side, grinning widely. His opponent reached the edge of the tank again and tried to lift himself out. The screaming continued and this time, he waited a little longer, until he jumped at the man’s right shoulder, bit into it and dragged him back into the water. The familiar taste of blood filled his mouth and he had to spit out the piece of flesh, he just ripped out of the man’s shoulder. Humans tasted disgusting. 

Suddenly, there was dull rumbling and through the glass, Tobirama could see a group of men appearing, all wearing faces of shock and terror. He could clearly recognize the human leader again.

“See, I told you he went crazy! He freed that beast and now look what had happened!” The smart man from a few minutes ago had apparently called for backup. He must have guessed what Tobirama was up to. 

“It seduced him into cutting open the net!” Another man pointed out, after seeing him swim around freely. Swimming still hurt, moving in general did, but Tobirama knew he had to pull up a façade, which they could not see through. He couldn’t be seen as a threat if he showed his pain openly. Deciding to wrap his tail around his captive, he swam to the surface and greeted the humans with a terrifying smile. He put his elbows on the edge of the tank and put his face onto his crossed forearms. 

“Hello, humans. I think I have found myself a human.” He imitated the leaders voice, when a few hours ago, he had announced that they had indeed captured an albino merman. He swiftly pulled the man, who was about to drown, up from the water, tail now curled around his neck. A dead hostage was useless, that’s why he is only holding him by his neck and not suffocating him.

Tobirama could clearly see the emotions written all over the humans’ faces. There was a mix of rage, concern, disappointment, shock, and fear. All these emotions could help him wager his way out of his prison. No one has to get hurt anymore, he just wanted to go home. 

It seemed like the humans didn’t expect him to be able to talk, because a few of them took a multiple steps back, after hearing him greet them.

“What do you want?” The leader asked him, brows furrowed. What a ridiculous question. What did he want? A salmon sandwich would be nice.

“What could I possibly want from you, human?” Tobirama asked and swayed his tail slightly, moving the human carefully, causing the water to swap over the sides. “My freedom of course.” He had thought about answering sarcastically, but he deemed it unsuitable for the situation. Not knowing human humour very well, he could blow up his entire plan just because he felt petty.

“I hope you understand that we can’t give you back your freedom this easily, beast.” The leader answered, crossing his arms but Tobirama could see deeper. He could see the man’s worry for his crewmate; he knew he wouldn’t let him die. Humans were so easy to read.

“And I hope, *you* understand that I want to be released, human.” He spat the last word out of his mouth, like it was a rotten and mouldy fish, he had just eaten. “Wouldn’t it be a shame if something happened to your fellow human over there? I’d hate to rip out some more of his flesh. You humans really don’t taste that good.” 

More and more eyes were looking at the human in the tank, who had started whimpering and crying now, and they finally realized, if Tobirama was not able to leave this ship, neither will the human leave the tank. The conflict visible on the leader’s face was plastered on every other face in the room too. It surprised Tobirama how much they all cared for him, even though they didn’t seem to be related in any way.

“There is a window.” The human said with hate in his voice. “You should be able to jump through it easily. It’s big enough.” He pointed at a window which was a few meters away from the tank, which Tobirama had just noticed. In his defence, he was a little preoccupied with trying to free himself from the net first, then one thing quickly led to another. The window was without glass, as much as Tobirama could tell, square in from, not extremely broad but it was enough for him to fit through in one jump. 

“See, I knew we could agree on something satisfactory for the both of us, human.” Tobirama snarled and uncurled his tail from the man’s neck, just to push him into the corner, away from his fellow crewmates. “He stays here, until I am in the water. Then you can come and get him out.” A few humans had already taken out their weapons, directing it at him. He knew he can’t lull himself into a false sense of security. He had to stay on high alert through the whole time. He will only allow his body and mind to relax when he returned safely in his family’s arms.

The human leader held up his arm, showing his crew to lower their weapons. Another smart one, so it seemed. He was a leader after all, being smart is probably a requirement for that, even in the human world. 

Tobirama swam in circles a few times, just to gain some speed. He’ll have to hurry to swim away, after leaving the ship, knowing with this broken tailfin, he will be slower than usual. Suddenly the human leader addressed him again. In his eyes, pure hatred for him and his entire race could be seen.

“I just want you to know, I won’t forget this. I know you will probably feel safe once you are underwater but mark my words. I will get you for what you have done to my crewmate and friend. I will not rest until you are stuck in my net again and believe me. You won’t be able to escape a second time.” 

After hearing those words, Tobirama didn’t hesitate and took the leap out of the window. Behind him, the only thing which could still be heard before he hit the water, was cursing and yelling. 

The cold saltwater hit his agitated skin and as fast as he could, Tobirama swam towards the darkness at the bottom of the sea. His skin and wounds were fond of the cold water which surrounded him now completely. The world around him grew darker and darker and Tobirama let himself be swallowed by this familiar void. It had felt like years, since he could swim around freely, without restriction, even though it had only been a few hours, maybe half a suncircle.

After a short amount of swimming, Tobirama noticed how exhausted his mind and body were. He felt too tired to keep swimming, but he had to push through. Every merperson had an internal compass, so he was just relying on his instincts to find his way home. 

Time passed and he could feel his eyes burning. The tiredness was starting to overwhelm him now, but he knew if he fell asleep now, its wasn’t certain he would be able find his way home again. The threats the human made shouldn’t be taken lightly. It was unlikely he would find him at the bottom of the ocean, miles away from where he had fled, but Tobirama was never going to underestimate a human again.

His whole body, especially his tail, started to cramp as he swam into his family’s territory. He was so close. He can’t give up now, it’s only a few more miles until he reaches the little burrow, he and his family called home. It was settled under a cliff, protecting them from the current and hunters like other merpeople. His brother decided to stick some logs and big branches, which sunk all the way down there, into the ground and make some sort of border, which he just passed. It seemed like he could already hear the laughter of his brother and see the gentle smile of his sister-in-law.

Everything was shaking and the darkness already edged at the sides of his eyes, ready to take over. He can’t close his eyes now, he was only safe when he saw his brother. He must keep swimming. Just keep going. 

With a blank mind, Tobirama kept swimming, until his body gave up, and he started to spasm, the second he hit a boulder. His body sank to the soft and sandy ground, burying one side of his face into the sand. Before everything became dark, he heard some frantic voices yelling and two big shadows towered over him.

Hashirama had spent a very contempt morning with his wife. They had eaten some of the last fish of the house, talked about their plans for the day. Tobirama was supposed to return today, hopefully with lots of fish in his hands. The supplies were starting to decline rapidly due to Mito’s growing hunger. No one blamed her, after all, she was pregnant with their first child. 

This was all so exciting for Hashirama. He couldn’t wait for little versions of himself and Mito to swim around their home, annoying their uncle and guilting him into playing with them. He knew how much children seemed to flock his seemingly cold brother but when children were around him, his walls would break down. They could make Tobirama do anything.

Oh, he can’t wait for this!

“Hashirama come quickly!” Mito suddenly yelled, sounding very distressed and hysteric. What was going on? Is the baby already coming? No, that can’t be it’s way too soon for that! Is she in pain? Is something wrong with the child?

Immediately he dropped everything and hurried to his wife, who was hovering over something laying in the sand. 

“Mito, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” He quickly swam over to his wife, just to stop dead in his track, when he recognized the unconscious figure laying there. It was his little brother. Tobirama.

“Honey, you need to get some of the herbs from the cliff. He’s wounded badly and we need to tend to his wounds as quickly as we can.” Mito quietly checked over her brother-in-law’s injuries.

“Mito… Who did this to him?” Hashirama was close to tears. Who would hurt his brother like this? It didn’t look like he got into a fight with another merperson. He had never seen injuries like this. “His tail… his fin!” Instead of leaving and looking for the herbs, like his wife had requested of him, Hashirama rushed next to his wife and put his hands carefully on his brother’s shoulder. 

Tobirama was covered in cuts from head to toe. It seemed like he had been straining against something sharp, because the cuts all seemed very straight and not natural. Looking at his hands, Hashirama had to swallow and take a few deep breaths. The red webbing between his hands had been ripped and cut through at some points. Looking further down his body, he saw the worst extend of the injuries. Tears were already leaving his eyes, quickly mixing with the surroundings. It was shredded. His tailfin was shredded. A quick look was enough to figure out that Tobirama was never going to swim as easily as before. There was no way that even someone like him, very skilled in healing, could mend something like this together again. 

There was trembling under his hands and Hashirama noticed how his little brother’s entire body was shaking. “We need to get him inside!” He shouted and turned around to see Mito returning with some dark green herbs in her hand. She nodded and disappeared in their burrow.

Carefully he gathered his brother up his arms, trying not to drag his tailfin through the grounds. He is not going to lose another brother, Hashirama swore to himself. 

Whoever did this to his brother… 

Whoever crippled him and abused his body so horribly… 

He hoped for their sake, that they will never cross his path.


	6. Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome back and let me tell you, writing this chapter was HARD! I dont know but I struggled a lot with it XD i still hope you guys like it!

Tobirama never could have guessed, he would wake up to so much pain. There was not a single muscle he could move. It felt like the entire water in the ocean was resting on his body, pressing him into the ground, leaving him there to rot. Without opening his eyes, he could recall the incident which had happened. He had been captured by some humans but was able to free himself surprisingly fast. Tobirama himself had been shocked how well his plan actually worked.

Suddenly he could feel something press against his shoulder. He flinched, even though it wasn’t a harsh or an evil touch. The feeling of the entire word pushing down onto his body disappeared and the feeling of warmth was spreading through his entire body. The cold disappeared and Tobirama exhaled sharply. 

The hand on his body seemed to notice his awakening and another warm hand touched his body. There were voices which seemed to swirl around him, leaving him dizzy. A groan escaped him, while he was trying to open his eyes. They felt heavy, like someone or something was holding his eyelids down. He raised his arm, which was harder than usual and tried to get rid of the object keeping his eyes closed. 

Warm hands quickly left his body and grabbed his wrist instead. Feeling a flash of panic, Tobirama tried to rip his arms out of the strong, yet gentle grip, they were trapped in. It felt like he was back in the tank again. He could already feel the net wrapping around him, ripping his skin and fins. Wincing, he tried to get away from his opponent and focused on swimming away. To free himself and return to his family. 

The voices returned. They sounded desperate and concerned, entirely different from what he remembered the humans’ voices to be. Something wasn’t right here.

Tobirama let out the breath, he didn’t know he was holding, when the hands turned into arms and he was lifted up from the surprisingly soft underground and pressed against something solid and warm. His chin was resting on something not too hard and not too soft. Warmth was radiating from the object he was pressed against. 

He felt… safe. Protected even. 

This wasn’t a human. He wasn’t on the ship anymore.

Tobirama didn’t mind staying in this position for eternity, leaving his worries and doubts behind and just focussing on the feeling of protection and *home*.

“Tobirama… ok… stay… safe… here…” 

The voice sounded too familiar just to ignore it. Some feelings he had missed in the last few hours and days started to spread through his body. Warmth, home, protection, family. Another different, but not foreign voice could be heard too but Tobirama wanted to concentrate and focus on this epidendrum of warmth in front of him.

His previously trapped arms could now be moved around freely and Tobirama decided he wanted more of those feelings and tried to press himself closer to the source, wrapping his arms around it. This felt similar. He had been in this position before, hugging this source of happiness and warmth. 

Tobirama didn’t want to open his eyes anymore, even though the voice asked him to. Even the second voice tried to coax him into opening them. If he opened them, then maybe this feeling would leave and Tobirama was not willing to let it all go, just because the voices wanted him to. He knew it was unlikely but he didn’t want to wake up just to find out he’s still on that damned ship.

The voices seemed to give up because they quieted down and another warm body was pressed against his back, his tail being carefully encircled by something smooth. It felt strangely comforting. Normally tight spaces made him nervous, he couldn’t fight with all of his might in those, but right now? He didn’t feel the need to fight. He felt like he could relax and let himself be Tobirama for a while. Just Tobirama.

He spent some time being surrounded by the feeling of home, love, and security, but he started to feel like he should move. As nice as those feelings were, Tobirama needed to flex his fingers, move his arms, and swing his tail. He had felt cooped up and surrounded for enough time now. 

He started with moving his arms away from the source of heat and let them hang loosely. His chin was still resting on the soft, yet hard surface, but Tobirama already moved, to slowly shuffle away.

The heat behind him had realized his plan rather quickly and detached itself from his back. The heat on his front, which was still hugging him seemed to argue with the other voice. Didn’t it want to let him go? Was this all a trap after all? Could they fool him this easily? After a few shared words, the other heat source carefully put its hand on his shoulder and slowly pushed him away. It wasn’t harsh or unpleasant or even a shove. The warmth still lingered around him.

It seemed like the heat and the voices wanted him to finally interact with them. Still unsure, he tried to open his eyes, wincing at the crust, which held them together. Another hand joined his cheek, making Tobirama flinch and squeeze his eyes back together. It seemed alright. The hand was soft against his rough cheek and a thumb was carefully running over the red lines, which circled around his face. 

“It’s alright, you can take your time, Tobirama. We’ll wait for you.” The voice could now be heard clearly. It was a female, melodic voice and it seemed familiar. The voice seemed to pull him towards the warmth again. 

Tobirama hummed contently as the other voice started speaking to and he recognized it instantly. Hashirama. His brother.

“Yes, just take as long as you need. You don’t need to be scared. You are safe now.” Something soft touched his forehead and Tobirama identified it as Hashirama’s own forehead, pressing them carefully together. His brother’s warm breath got carried over through water and it hit him in the face gently. A little smile spread over Tobirama’s face, leaving him to finally open his eyes. 

Everything was blurry and unclear, and he could only see dark silhouettes in front of him. One was his brother’s, who had his head pressed against his own, just like Tobirama imagined. They looked into each other’s eyes and a giant and generous smile was plastered on Hashirama’s face. 

“There you are. Welcome back, Tobi.” Hashirama said and pushed his forehead against him even harder just to lean back quickly afterwards. Tobirama’s focus was now on the other silhouette who he could recognize as Mito. 

“Welcome back, little brother.” She said. Her face was full of concern, but a slight smile could still be seen on her face. “You scared us a lot.” She said and removed her hand from his cheek and placed it on top of his head, slightly ruffling his white hair. Tobirama tried to lean into it and sighed when she started scratching his scalp.

“You need to lay down again, Tobi!” Hashirama suddenly yelled, hurting his ears. He winced and instinctively pulled his shoulders up, pulling Hashirama’s hands up in the progress. He heard his brother gasp and his warm hands disappeared from his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to be this loud! But you need to go to bed though.”

Hashirama apologized and Mito also removed her hands from his body. The warmth was not completely gone but he still missed the familiar touches, which were still lingering on his skin. He knew how emotional and skittish Hashirama could be, so this sort of emotional outbreak should be a surprise to no one.

Tobirama nodded and looked at his brother’s worried face. He must have scared them senselessly, after crashing right before their home, laying unconsciously on the ground, covered in wounds. He could not blame his family for buzzing around him, being concerned and just wanting to help but Tobirama only just woke up, so he needed time to order his thoughts and progress what had happened. He is at home and that’s the most important thing that mattered right now.

Mito and Hashirama coaxed him into laying down in his bed again, careful not to startle him. They acted like he was about to break into thousands of pieces. He probably looked like that too. Tobirama knew he had to explain them, what had happened, but he didn’t know when or if he will be ready to do so. 

“I’ll leave the two of you alone. I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.” Mito leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on his forehead. “Please rest, little brother. You need it.” Tobirama smiled at her, grasping her hand, and pressing it slightly. He wanted to show her that he was alright. She shouldn’t worry so much about him, not with a baby. Mito returned his smile and quietly left the room.

Tobirama laid on his back, head turned to the left side, staring at the stone wall in front of him. It was hard to look in his brother’s eyes right now, he knew they were full of sorrow and fear. Fear for what had happened to his brother and fear about his future. He knew it looked bad. He was not blind, nor delusional. 

“Tobi… what happened. Where have you been? How did this” he flailed his hands around, trying to point at his body. “happen? Who did this?” After hearing his brother’s voice, Tobirama automatically turned his head around. 

“I’m sorry, brother.” His voice sounded rough and hoarse. His way back home had nagged at his body more than he had expected. A short and dry cough left him and his body heaving. Hashirama’s quickly found his hand and he felt his brother’s thumb run gently over the back of his hand. 

“It’s ok. Take your time. There is nothing to apologize for.” His brother’s deep voice quickly calmed him down. There was something grounding and relaxing in it and Tobirama could listen to it forever. It was completely different from the one of the human leader. His voice had been as deep as his brother’s, but it had been hysteric and maniac. Trying not to think about it anymore, Tobirama continued his tale. 

“I had scanned the entire hunting area for food, but I couldn’t find anything. It was like everything eatable was gone. Only small fish had remained.” He recited. “Then I felt a big group of fish close together and at this moment I should have known something was wrong. This doesn’t happen naturally. Not in this size. This had been a trap, and everyone should have seen it. But I didn’t” Tobirama sat up and rubbed his eyes. They stung and the brightness was starting to hurt. The stinging was probably from the stress and his injuries and not from the tears which were about to leave his eyes.

Hashirama sat down next to his brother and pulled him into a side hug. He gently placed his own head on Tobirama’s, which he had pressed up against his elder brother’s neck. Hashirama’s other hand found its way into his little brother’s hair and gently pet him, trying to coax more out of him. “What happened then?”

Tobirama’s face was still pressed up against his brother and he muttered. “There was a net full of fish. No one was around and I… I thought maybe I could just grab them. It seemed abandoned and I was desperate. I know how important eating regularly is, especially for someone pregnant. Coming back empty handed had not been an option.” 

It shocked Hashirama how much his brother had been willing to risk getting his wife and his child something to eat. Everything he said had been correct and it would be a lie if he said, he wasn’t worried about his wife’s and child’s health.

“I cut the net open and quickly collected lots of fish, but it was still not enough. I should have taken those back here, so we would at least had something to eat. But I became greedy and wanted more. Before I could do anything, the net started to move upwards, which is when I realized that this had been a trap.”

Hashirama knew in which direction this would go. Trapped and struggling in a net would fit his brother’s injuries very well. To well and it hurt. It hurt so badly. They have all heard stories about captured and trapped merpeople, but his genius little brother getting caught by humans? This was not something Hashirama had ever imagined happening.

“I didn’t know what they exactly wanted but I could trick one of the humans and escape. I tried to come back as fast as I could. I… oh god. I was so scared. I thought I was going to die.” Tobirama removed himself from his brother and put his head in his hands. His shoulders were trembling and Hashirama was angry. Angry at the humans for hurting his brother. Angry at other merpeople, because why did no one help him? Angry at himself for not being there when his little brother needed him.

Hashirama clenched his fists, trying to contain the anger he felt. Why was this world so cruel? What have they ever done to anyone to deserve this? Tobirama was his only brother left and he will not let those humans take him away from him. Never again. 

Deciding that now was not the time to be angry at something he could not change, Hashirama gathered his brother up in his arm. It had been a while since Tobirama had actually cried in front of him. Of course, after their brothers had died, he had heard individual sobs or sniffles coming from him, but Hashirama had been going through a hard time too back then. He regretted it now, not being there for his brother in his grief, but he had been young and stupid. Thought of his brother as cold and unforgiving, ignoring the fact that he had just been a little boy, who had also lost his siblings.

This was his chance to show his brother the love he needed and deserved. He had been a horrible brother, but he is working on redeeming himself constantly. 

Hashirama is softly petting his brother’s back, whispering reassuring words into his ears, trying to calm him down. His brother had always been a quiet crying, never loud or emotional like Hashirama, which had led him to believe his brother not to be feeling anything at all. 

After a few minutes, Tobirama pushed himself away from Hashirama, rubbing his eyes. He knew how embarrassing this outburst of emotions must have been for Tobirama, even though his brother was glad he was trusted enough to share them with. 

“I’m sorry you had to see this, brother.” Tobirama apologized, looking away again. It hurt Hashirama deeply to hear his brother apologize for letting out his emotions. They had to work on that but there are more pressing matters at hand. 

“It’s ok. There is nothing to apologize for. You are allowed to feel things here. It’s only natural.” Hashirama put a hand on Tobirama’s back, trying not to touch any injuries. “Everything will be fine, just wait.”

Hashirama didn’t know if everything will be alright but sometimes you had to lie to make others feel better and it was his job to make his little brother feel better, even if it wasn’t exactly the truth, he was telling him.

Even though, Hashirama knew Tobirama was an intelligent mer, he was also a realist. No matter who would have looked at his brother’s tailfin, they would have all come to the same conclusion. It’s not like Tobirama will never be able to swim again, he swam back to his home just fine. This was about how his life would change from now on. He won’t be able to hunt for food anymore, there was no way he could hold his own in a fight. Tobirama will have to depend on others more and Hashirama knew how much his little brother hated that.


	7. Entrance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Touka makes an entrance!!!!! But before that more talking and feeling!!

Hashirama was happy when Tobirama finally calmed and he could move to the kitchen. He knew Mito was there, waiting for him. As expected, his wife was buzzing around in the kitchen, trying to mix something up to eat. He could see that she cooked something separately for Tobirama. It was something soothing for the stomach, so it wouldn’t upset his health even more.

He swam up to her and wrapped his arms around her middle from behind, softly touching her belly, which already started to pop out a little. Sighing, he buried his nose into her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. Two soft hands moved to touch his own and Mito leaned back into the embrace.

“How is he?” She asked, turning around, and taking her husband’s head in her hands. A few tears had collected in the corner of his eyes and Mito wiped them away before they threatened to fall. “Is it that bad?”

Hashirama removed his wife’s hands carefully from his face and took them in his own. “He’s hurt, Mito. Not just physically, but also mentally. I don’t know how to help him with this.” He sighed, lowering his head. Mito moved and hugged her husband close. She knew how hard this was for both of them. Tobirama was mentally scarred. He did not want to bother them with his pains and Hashirama, who tried to be a better brother so badly, was scared of failing the only brother he had left. 

“He’s strong, Hashirama. He just needs time.” Mito moved back, turning her back towards Hashirama, continuing to cook. “It’s important that he knows we will always be there for him if he needs us. You need to show him that you are open and ready to help, without pressuring him into anything.” 

Mito always had some words of advice. “You are so much better at this, than me, Mito. I’m scared I’ll do something wrong and break our bond.” He looked at the little stone he held in his hands, which he had picked up from the table. “I can’t lose him.” 

“Hashirama, you won’t lose him. Not this easily. Your brother loves you; he just has a hard time showing it sometimes.” Mito crossed her arms and leaned back to look at her husband again. Hashirama started chuckling, leading Mito to raise her eyebrow at him.

“He told me what happened, you know. He had been kidnapped by humans but he was the most concerned about you and the baby not getting the fish you need. He kept talking about how important it is for pregnant merpeople to eat enough. He was so desperate to care for you and our child, he even risked his life for it.” Mito smiled at hearing this but worry also nagged at her stomach. Her little brother shouldn’t risk his life so easily, like it’s nothing of worth.

“I think we need to work on his self-worth; to show him he is important, and that we need him.” Mito suggested and stirred around in the food she was making. That would be a good start. They needed to work with Tobirama and show him that *his* life was worth something too. He was worth protecting too.

Tobirama laid completely still in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had just woken up and he felt horrible. The feeling of embarrassment and shame lingered inside of him. He felt like he had burdened his brother with even more worries. He already had a wife and a child to worry about, not need to add him to the list. 

He was an adult after all, he should be his own responsibility, not his brother’s. Adding to his worries just wouldn’t be fair. He can manage on his own. He had for a long time and he could do it again. 

Looking down his body, he noticed how his tail had been bandaged up with some sturdy yet soft material. A little bit of some sort of salve his brother or Mito had mixed up with some herbs was peeking out beneath it. Carefully pressing down on the bandage, he felt the cool substance covering his skin and wounds. It actually felt nice. Because nearly his whole body had been covered by bandages, Tobirama could move very poorly. It wasn’t like he could go anywhere, not in his condition. Still, he felt like he had to move, the feeling of being trapped was still present in the back of his mind. He knew he was with his family; he knew he was safe for the moment but knowing he will leave his home someday made him shiver. 

The words of the human leader still echoed in his mind. He had sworn to capture Tobirama again, to get revenge on what he did to his friend. To be honest, it had never been his intention to hurt that human as much as he did, but he had been desperate to get out. He had known he needed drastic measures to get them to do his will. Violence was the only language humans were capable of speaking and understanding. 

Tobirama heard voices coming from outside his room and he was sure he his name had been muttered. It was no surprise to him that Mito and Hashirama were talking about him, a lot had happened, so that was fair. Still, he wondered what they were saying about him. He didn’t know how Mito would react to Hashirama telling his story. She would probably tell him not to worry about her so much but that was unacceptable. Mito was part of the family, so of course Tobirama would worry about her and her health. With her being pregnant, he would worry even more, now there is even another person he must be concerned about and that one isn’t even born yet. Maybe that made it even harder.

If they could hear his thoughts, they would probably tell him he should stop worrying about them all the time. Tobirama sighed and rubbed his face with his bandaged hand. Were they right? Was he worrying too much? Did his brother think he is taking it too far? That it was his job to worry about his wife and child and not Tobirama’s? Had he been meddling with something which was no concern of his?

He was overthinking everything again. Hashirama had told him before Tobirama had the habit to spiral down in a chain of thoughts, jumping from one topic to another, without coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Then he would start from the beginning in an endless circle of thoughts, which ended with him not knowing what he thought of in the first place.

And that was what had happened to Tobirama while staring at the ceiling. Now he was laying there, not having a clue where he had wanted his thoughts to wander. Oh right, the voices coming from the kitchen.

He should get up, or at least try to get up. Pushing the covers back, Tobirama moved carefully to untangle it from his tail. He gently pushed himself away from the bed, swimming over to the door. His whole body still hurt, not as bad as he had before but still noticeably. Tobirama deemed it manageable and reached the door without any inconvenience. Maybe he had been wrong with his injuries and they were only half as bad as he thought. Of course, he could only know for sure if he’d swim a long period of time without pausing, or swim shorter periods of times but quickly behind one another.

Tobirama placed his hand gently on the doorknob, now actually listening to the voices. Apparently, Mito and Hashirama were about to finish their conversation about him. He had just heard his name but now they were talking about the baby. After all, the baby was more important and more existent in their lives than Tobirama. There was nothing he could find out by just standing behind a closed door and it was starting to get ridiculous. 

Opening the door, Tobirama could see the couple turn their heads around looking at him with shocked faces. Hashirama was about to open his mouth, when there was a quick knock at the front door and it swung open with such a power that Tobirama was hit in the face with fresh water which had been stirred up because of the door.

In the doorway was another familiar looking mermaid, shooting death-glares at Hashirama until her face softened upon seeing Tobirama. Touka was standing in front of them and she quickly swam towards Tobirama to crush him in a bone-breaking hug. Still, she was careful not to jostle him and his injuries too much. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and pressed his head into her neck.

“You idiot, what have you done? Don’t you know how worried I was?” She whispered in his ear, but still loud enough for Hashirama and Mito to hear. 

“Yeah, Touka already suspected that humans were involved. She wasn’t wrong though… She threatened to sink every ship she encounters just in case you were on one.” Hashirama chuckled but Touka shot him a glare over Tobirama’s shoulder. 

“Just… Don’t do it again, ok?” She sighed and pushed Tobirama away at an arm’s length. “I don’t know if there would be any humans left after that.” Touka tried to smile at him but it quickly disappeared after she got a good look at his body. “What have they done to you?”

Tobirama took her head in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. “Don’t worry about me. It’s nothing I can’t handle.” 

Touka didn’t seem to appreciate the word coming out of his mouth because her face twisted in anger. “How can I be not worried! Someone has to worry about you, after all.” She whispered against him. Tobirama heard a slight gasp coming from his brother behind him. He knew Hashirama would have been worried if he had known what happened to him. He had trusted humans more than Touka or himself did. 

“It’s not like I was gone for too long. It only had been a day.” Tobirama winced when Touka tried to look at his injuries and his tailfin. Catching her eyes again, he tried to calm them all down. “The most important thing is that I’m back here, is it not?” 

The face on everyone softened. “Of course, it is.” Hashirama answered from where he was pacing around. “We all love you, you know that right?” He stopped and looked him dead in the eye. 

Tobirama knew they all loved him. A few years ago, he would have doubted how important his role had been in his brother’s life but Hashirama had changed for the better. He never questioned his love. Mito had married into the family and it had been awkward at first. He knew she thought of him as a cold, stone-faced guy at first, his brother had helped her with those impressions, but the more time they had spent together, the more they understood each other’s habits. Tobirama had been very wary of Mito too at the beginning. He had suspected her to only be after his brother’s influence and power. She had proven him time after time that she was a good wife and a good older sister. Touka had always been his beacon of light. She didn’t shine as bright as his brother but when Hashirama’s light hadn’t been shining in his direction, Touka’s shined even brighter. She helped him to stay focussed, to not drift away. They sometimes had talked through the night, until it was bright again. They had gone through various topics and discussed many things. Tobirama knew Touka was still very unsure about what she should think about Hashirama’s change of heart, but he hoped, she was willing to give him a chance.

Tobirama didn’t notice how everyone’s eyes had rested on him. Three pairs of big and waiting eyes stared at him. He hadn’t noticed how much time had passed while he was lost in thoughts and they were still waiting for his answers. He squinted his eyes and twisted his head. 

“Of course, I know that you love me. Do you think I would have returned to you if I didn’t think I was safe and welcomed here?” 

Touka crossed her strong arms and looked at looked at him. “What took you so long to answer then?” She asked.

Before he could answer, another merman ripped open the door, face panicking and shocked.

“Mr. Hashirama! There is something wrong with the ocean. You need to come quickly!” 

As quick as the merman came, he disappeared again. Hashirama didn’t waste any time and followed him. Of course, Touka, Mito and Tobirama were also interested and decided to follow too.


	8. The Black Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, welcome back! In this chapter, there is an OC of mine. He's not really of importance but I still hope you like him! Just don't get attached...  
> Still, I wish you fun! ;^)

Outside of their home it looked like the sun was gone. Like it had just disappeared, or it suddenly became night. 

There was no other animal swimming around, it was just the four of them. Everything seemed dead.

The merman, who had just broken through their door, was swimming ahead. He had short brown hair which were curled around the current of the water, and big brown eyes. He had bronze skin and a light green tail were white stripes swirled upon, completed with some red dots scattered wildly around the bottom of the fin. 

The young merman kept looking back at them, to check if they were still following him in the darkness of the ocean. “I don’t know what happened, sir. There is something covering the surface of the water. I told the other’s not to touch it because we have never seen something like this before.” He ranted, flailing his hands around wildly. Something was on the water? What could be so enormous and shield the ocean from the warmth of the sun?

Tobirama was already calculating, going through everything he knew, which could possibly do something like this. Sure, ships could darken a spot in the ocean, if they were exactly in the line of the sun but never such a big area. Sometimes, Tobirama had only witnessed it once, the moon moves in front of the sun and for a few minutes and the whole sky becomes dark. It had been fascinating to watch. Since that day, it never had happened again, though. So maybe this was what had happened. But the young mer, Juntarou was his name, told them there was something *on* the surface, covering it.

Shaking his head, Tobirama couldn’t think of anything which could help them in any way. Maybe the right thoughts will come his way, when they finally arrived. He had noticed how much slower he was compared to the others. He was not blind to the fact Juntarou had slowed down after seeing him struggling to follow. It had been a stupid idea anyway. He was still recovering and now he thought it would be a good idea to swim to the surface. He wondered why Hashirama hadn’t tried to stop him, but his brother was probably way to agitated and worried to be concerned about him right now. 

His whole body throbbed in pain and a headache started as soon as they had reached the dark surface. Tobirama just hoped his cuts didn’t start bleeding again. He wouldn’t want anybody to worry about him.

“It looks like it’s the middle of the night.” His brother noted, reaching up to touch the brown and black substance. Coming to a stop next to his brother, Tobirama grabbed his arm and stopped him immediately.

“Idiot! Don’t touch that. Don’t you know what that is?” He hissed at his clueless looking brother. Hashirama’s big brown eyes stared at him, while frozen in place. His finger was only centimetres away from the substance. 

He had never seen it in person, but upon getting a first glance of the mysterious substance, Tobirama immediately knew what they were dealing with.

“What is it?” Touka asked, confusion written all over her face. She crossed her arms, trying to shield herself from what’s about to come.

“I haven’t seen it in person, yet but I am pretty sure I know what this is.” Tobirama began his explanation. He looked to the others, into each of their eyes. “I’m sure you have heard of it. We commonly refer to it as ‘the black death’. Humans call it oil.”

Upon earing the news, Hashirama yanked his hand away from the surface, bringing distance between him and the black death. They have all heard horror stories about the it as children in bedtime stories. How it kills everything it touches. How, once it has one in its cold grip, there is no escape. 

Of course, they were only stories and hid the truth behind it. “It’s not poisonous per se. You *could* touch it.” He looked at his older brother. “Which does not mean you should. You should still keep away from it because it *can* become deadly when inhaled, eaten or it obstructs your gills. Still, it is extremely hard to get rid of. Most of the time some good-hearted humans clean it off the oceans and nurse animals back to health, which has been affected by the black death.” Tobirama explained.

“So, what can we do? What should I tell patrol?” Juntarou asked, looking helplessly around. It seemed to be as clueless about what to do as Hashirama.

“There isn’t much you *can* do. I guess we just have to wait until things get better.” Tobirama looked back at the darkened surface. “All we can do is wait right now.”

This answer didn’t seem to satisfy anyone. It was the harsh reality of life, crashing down onto them. “I have tried to work on a solution before, but nothing has ever helped to destroy the substance.” Somehow the humans were more advanced at science than the merpeople were. The most merpeople weren’t even interested in science or accepted it, they looked at the word as it was and deemed it alright. There was no need for progress and inventions when there was no problem to solve. This philosophy sadly led to them ignoring and forgetting most of the pressing issues they had. The black death for example, the shortage of food, the poisoning of their home. They just looked away and didn’t dare to approach the problems.

Juntarou had left the group, probably to go back to his patrol, while Tobirama had been lost in thought. He could see Hashirama and Mito discussing the matter and Touka seemed to be hypnotized by the rainbow colours above them. Moving over to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“It does look beautiful, doesn’t it, even though it’s so deadly.” Tobirama joined her in staring at the substance which swam on the surface. Depending on how you moved your head, the colour of the black death changed from black to brown into a bright mix of every colour imaginable. It truly seemed to pull one into its grasp. 

“Is there really nothing we can do?” Touka asked, now looking at him. Her eyes looked sincerely, and her grey and black colouring made her blend in with the environment. It seemed unbelievable that there was a problem none of them could solve.

“No. At least I don’t know of one.” Tobirama answered her with raised eyebrows. “There must be one, the humans can fight it, after all. But We? No, we can’t do anything.”  
Tobirama hated how much superior the humans were compared to them in so many aspects. Staring at the black death made it even more obvious. The entirety of the merpeople were bound to helplessly wait for the humans to do something. The substance even blocked air from reaching the depth of the ocean, so it wasn’t just something they could wait on. It *needed* to disappear. 

Again, he was ripped out of his thoughts when Hashirama put his hand on his shoulder. “We should head home. There is nothing we can do here, and you need to rest, Tobirama. You shouldn’t have joined us to begin with. It was way too dangerous.” Hashirama scolded him but his face emitted kindness and worry. Tobirama knew he was right. A lot of things could have had happened on their way to the surface and he would have been left behind if they were to escape. 

“I know, brother. It was careless of me.” Tobirama admitted and lowered his head. From the corner of his eye, he could see Touka angrily staring at Hashirama, leaving him gasping and stuttering. 

“No! This is not you fault. I should have said something.” He scratched his head. “When Juntarou arrived, I was just so worried.” 

Tobirama had known Touka since he was born, and he learned pretty early how easily she can bring Hashirama to do anything she wanted. He didn’t know if he was scared of her or just intimidated. 

Their way home had been easier. Most of the time they just needed to swim downwards, letting gravity do its work. Upon arriving, Hashirama quickly compelled Tobirama into going to bed, or at least lying down. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was endlessly tired and wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and to get sucked into the world of dreams. 

When his brother tried to tuck him into bed, Tobirama shot him the same death glare, Touka had shown him. He may be his younger brother, but he didn’t need to be tucked into bed. Hashirama looked confused at first but quickly got his message and hurried to leave the room.

“Hashirama!” Tobirama could yell, before his brother left the room. He turned around and looked at the laying figure, covered by several sorts of blankets made out of different materials. “I just want you to know that I am not mad at you. It seemed like you thought I was.” Tobirama quickly added. Hashirama sighed and looked to the sandy ground. The confident man, his brother usually portrayed, was gone.

“I’m just worried.” He paused. “I don’t want you to think I don’t care about you, but at the same time, I don’t want to be overbearing, because I know you hate that.” He started rambling without looking at his younger brother. “I have known you since you were born, and you are extremely important to me. I know you think we shouldn’t worry about you. I know you think you should be able to take care of yourself. And I know you think I should worry about Mito and the baby more than about you.”

Tobirama kept staring at his brother, who was letting his emotions talk now. “Neither Mito, nor I think you are incapable to take care of yourself, it’s just… you are our little brother. That’s kind of our job.” Hashirama started chuckling. “We worry about you because we care about you.” 

Tobirama opened his mouth to argue but his older brother held up his index finger to silence him. “I have been a horrible brother for a very long time, and I know I’m not perfect. But please. I’m trying to be better. I am trying to do, what I was incapable to do when you were a child. Be a good older brother.”

Tobirama could already feel the tears prickling at his eyes. He knew his brother had his way with emotional speeches, but he never thought he would become the victim of one. “Don’t, brother. I know you love me. You have to adapt to become a better older brother, let me adapt and learn how to be a younger brother. We both need time for this.” He looked at his brother fidgeting with his fingers and within a second, Tobirama knew what he wanted.

“You can come and hug me, brother. I know you want it.” Before he could even hold his arms up, a giant body came slamming onto him, just to scrabble back. 

“I’m so sorry. I forgot you were hurt!” Hashirama nearly sobbed but Tobirama put his hand on the back of his head and pulled him close. Now that his brother wasn’t looking at his face, Tobirama could let the tears fall and he was fairly sure, Hashirama was doing the same. 

It seemed like hours later, when the two brothers parted. Both were extremely tired, since the sun, which was no were to be seen due to the black death, had already set. Quietly they wished each other a good night and each brother laid their head to rest…

Until there was aggressive knocking on the door, in the middle of the night. Tobirama immediately woke up, struggling to free himself from the tight grasp of his multiple blankets. He was out of breath, when he realized that no one was in his room and the knocking came from the door.

He could hear his brother was already up, scattering around in the dark kitchen to find his way to the door. While Tobirama had freed himself and quickly joined Mito and Hashirama in the kitchen, the knocking never stopped. His older brother pushed them both back, so he was protectively standing in front of them.

The door was ripped open by Hashirama, who had a knife made out of coral, similar to Tobirama’s own, in his hand. 

In the doorway stood a young, but strong looking merman with dark brown hair and skin, and a golden tail with white stripes and dots. His eyes were nearly black in the darkness, but you could still see that he had been crying. 

“It’s Juntarou… H-he’s dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp...

**Author's Note:**

> If you could spare the time and leave a kudo, comment or a bookmark, that'd be nice! If you liked it of course :P See yall next chapter. tbh i dont know when that'll be or how long this story will take. or how many chapter there will be. lets find that out together XD


End file.
